The Archbishop of Durban has launched a website – www.churchontheball.com – to cover the World Cup form the perspective of Christian athletes. The World Cup matches will occur at ten different venues in ten different cities across South Africa. Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth will host games, with the final match slated for July 11 in Johannesburg (Soweto).

South Africa is expected to be inundated with 5 to 10 million tourists during the games. The website will inform fans of religious services and other events being sponsored by the church during the games.

This week saw the NAC, Redemptoris Mater and Mater Ecclesiae win outright. No surprises, though the NAC beat San Paolo, a good team last year, 2-0. In division A, the Brazilians flattened AC Commonwealth – they may qualify for the play-offs for the first time. In Division B, Mater Eccelsiae’s offense looks uninspired. Though 2-0, they only have 3 goals under their belt. Points so far:

Nine Clericus Cup teams have players of Mexican national heritage on their roster, according to El Financiero, the leading Mexican financial newspaper. Colegio Mexicano clearly has the highest representation, followed by Mater Ecclesiae. In addition, there are either Mexican players or players of Mexican descent on the following teams: Redemptoris Mater, San Alfonso, the NAC Martyrs, the Urbanium, Pío Latinoamericano, Guanelliani and Sedes Sapientiae.

Mater Eccesiae reports that their squad was reinforced by some serious talent from Mexico this year, which has resulted in a significant change in talent. Mexico’s College also hopes to do better compared to the 2009 season, as they did not qualify for the play-offs last year.

On a chilly Saturday in Rome, Clericus Cup kicked off its fourth season. The NAC edged their former team mate John Kalevski, now playing for the Brazilian College in a game won on PK’s 1-1 (5-4). Anglo Celtic, perhaps better known as Commonwealth, also won this week on PK’s. Redemptoris Mater, ever the fans of folk liturgy, have returned with guitars and tambourines. The tifosi were overheard singing Michael, row the boat ashore during the game.

I’ll move to a point system ranking eventually; for now, the won-loss standings for Division A after the first week:

Bishop Claudio Paganini confirmed to La Stampa that the idea of a Vatican World Cup team is still a ways off, without explicitly ruling out the idea. The logistics and the question of talent aside, Paganini was quoted in La Stampa as saying, The times have yet to mature. The will is there on the part of the Church, but at the moment it is only a dream. Maybe with time, a way will avail itself, though it would be complicated… “.

While no one expects the Vatican to field a team any time soon, the Church is saying that it wants to be part of the dialogue when it comes to participation in the planet’s most popular sport.

Centro Sportivo Italiano, the organizer for Clericus Cup IV, released some stats for the tournament. The sixteen teams have submitted rosters that include 373 players representing 65 countries. The countries producing the most players for the league? Mexico with 49, Italy with 45, Brazil with 24, and the United States with 21. The season will kick off this weekend and wrap up on April 25, with the championship scheduled for May 22.

Participating in the events kicking off the season was Giovanni Trappantoni, who coached Juventus in the 1980s, as well as doing stints for Inter and Bayern Munich. Currently the coach for Ireland’s national team, Trappantoni said he’d love to coach a Vatican World Cup football team. Since the Vatican is not (yet) part of FIFA, that dream is still a few decades off.

Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, addressed organizers of the Clericus Cup IV competition today at the Holy See. He read a letter from the Bishop of Durban, South Africa – Wilfrid Fox Napier. Archbishop Napier spoke of South Africa’s privilege in hosting the 2010 World Cup. He stated that football was an opportunity to demonstrate the virtues of patience, perseverance, and respect, and that the Clericus Cup tournament represents an opportunity to actualize those values and to demonstrate the vitality of the church.

On Thursday, CSI will formally inaugurate Clericus Cup IV, an annual soccer tournament representing sixteen schools and players from five continents. A press conference will be held in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall. Redemptoris Mater, the defending champions, will sport the Scudetto on their jerseys. The games kick-off on Saturday, February 20 at the Oratorio San Pietro.

All three teams atop the standings won this week. Arsenal defeated Portsmouth 4-1, with the newspapers wistfully reporting that it was the first time that 22 players had taken the field in a Premier League match with not a single Englishman among them. Not that the fans care, as the quality of Premier League play is the best in the world… Las Monday, Chelsea defeated Fulham 2-1, with Drogba scoring the only goal for Chelsea. Fulham scored twice, though one point went to Chelsea. Chelsea’s Peter Cech, counted among the best goalkeepers in the world, has given up 18 goals in December, and there is talk of benching him. But, Chelsea’s schedule for January is light, so no one is panicking… Manchester U flattened Wigan 5-0 before a crowd of 74,000. Rooney scored his 14th goal of the season, with four more Man U players hitting paydirt as well. Tottenham replaced Aston Villa at fourth place this week, with Villa dropping to sixth.